The Attack
by GreenCyberWolf
Summary: What happens when the Strawhats get on the wrong side of a rival pirate crew? And then their captain decides to attack the Sunny with only Nami on guard. Takes place between Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago.
1. Chapter 1

I know the title sucks. My mind went totally blank on this part. I'll probably think of a really cool title after I post this though, that's the way life works. =P

Guess the first thing I should say it that I didn't write this story. A friend of mine wrote this with my help, and I also did the editing. As you will see with this fic, she has a real sadistic side to her, kinda like me (probably why I helped with this story anyway) The reason it's on my name is that in her own words- She doesn't want to create an account for one measly little story.- (end quote) She doesn't have the time to write all that much, or the will to put anything on the internet, so since I helped out she allowed me to post it under my name. Probably just to see what people would say about it.

Really I'm rather curious myself to see what you reviewers think about her work. So without further ado, let's begin.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…nothing…

**The Attack  
****Ch 1**

Nami sat up and stretched, she had finally completed a map she had been trying to finish for days. It had only been three hours since the crew had left the ship and Nami was thoroughly enjoying herself without everyone there to bother and disturb her work. There was still the whole day left to peacefully do what she wanted aboard Sunny.

"Only three hours to finish up what would have taken me another couple of days with those idiots around." Nami smiled happily at her map as she hung it up to dry. "I think I deserve a nice break after that. Maybe some mikan juice, I think Sanji still has some in the fridge."

Before she could reach the door, however, there was a thudding noise from outside. _'Hmm, weird thudding noises don't sound suspicious at all. It's too early for anyone to be back yet. Even Sanji, if I know him, won't be done at the market for another hour at least. Then he'll spend another two trying to pick up girls.'_ Though there was always the chance something had gone wrong in the crew's wanderings. A fight with the Marines, a run in with the locals, or any number of other things that could have happened. Nami wouldn't be surprised with anything this crew could dig up.

Quickly making sure she had easy access to her Perfect Clima Tact, Nami eased the observation room door open as silently as she could. At first glance there wasn't anything out of the ordinary to be seen on the back part of the ship and Nami stepped further out of the relative safety of the doorway. She regretted it almost instantly as two large men dropped from the roof to surround her. The two of them grabbed her arms before she could reach for her weapon and held her tightly in a vice like grip. The navigator was sure there were going to be bruises there later from their fingers. Then one guy who had noticed where her hands were headed before she was stopped quickly found the three metal rods that formed her Perfect Clima Tact.

"What the hell? Who are you guys?" Nami struggled and fought as best she could but it did nothing against the brute strength of her two captors. And, as long as her Clima Tact was in the hands of these guys she doubted she'd be getting it back very easily.

With a motion of his head the guy who had relieved Nami of her weapon led the way back toward the lawn deck. "You sure are a real livewire, huh?" He smirked nastily as her elbow nearly grazed his abdomen. "And, you really don't need to be worrying about who we are at the moment, missy. Your real concern should be what our captain is gonna do with you."

Nami twisted and writhed in the hands of the two big goons that forced her across the back part of the ship heading to the front. Nothing she did seemed to work in getting away from them. Even when she planted her feet and tried to stop herself from being pushed forward all they did was drag her ahead anyway, none to gently, I might add. Nami growled in frustration and glared up at the two men and then looked again, they were twins. Now where had she recently seen a pair of twins that looked as ugly as these guys? There was something familiar about them she just couldn't place. Shaking off the oddity in this Nami found that despite her fighting it they had easily managed to drag her all the way to the lawn deck. There waiting for her were two more men, both older than her, and both pirates. The one with fading reddish-brown hair stepped forward first, he looked pretty bruised up, and had bandages wrapped around one arm too. He definitely had the air of one in charge.

The captain, a man named Tison, stepped forward as the two twins came back from their search of the ship. _'Looks like they've found something after all. Well, well, if it doesn't happen to be the little cat thief. It's almost shameful that she has to be part of the straw hat boy's crew.'_ "Is this it then, boys? No more crew members on the ship?" He turned his attention to the brothers who both nodded in response. Tison didn't know this crew's captain personally, of course, but he really expected a man with as high a bounty as Strawhat Luffy's was rumored to be would be smarter than to leave one lone crewmate as guard and a woman no less.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want here?" Nami ground out through gritted teeth. The grip of the two brothers was really starting to hurt but there was no way she'd let them know that. Her eyes locked onto the first man, she pegged him to be the captain, almost before he spoke. He seemed sorta familiar to Nami also but she couldn't think of where she had seen him either.

"Fiery little thing aren't ya? Just as I figured." Tison asked with an amused smile on his lips as he turned his attention back to the captured woman. He stepped closer and was rewarded with a vicious kick toward his mid-section, it missed by more than a little, but it made the man laugh at the young woman's tenacity. "Well then, if ya want to know so badly, might as well tell ya. The name's Tison, captain of the Whiplash pirates. I believe my crew and yours had a little run-in yesterday."

Nami could feel her eyes widen as she remembered the skirmish with the pirate group before they had docked here yesterday. The two twins and the other blonde guy suddenly all clicked into her memory. The alarm bells in her head started going off and loudly. Knowing Luffy he had probably pummeled this guy's crew into a bloody pulp, with or without help from her and the others. Not to mention she had stolen from them. No captain was going to stand by and let something like that go by without dealing with it. With that sudden revelation any chance that this could be resolved by talking it out just about shrunk to zero.

"I can see ya still remember the incident." Tison smirked and Nami grimaced as she could only imagine what he wanted her for. "Then you'll understand why I'm searching for your captain, if ya tell me where he is, I can make this nice and quick." Tison's small grin melted from his face to be replaced by a hard frown that, despite it being quite warm out, made Nami shiver.

'_Luffy, what did you do to this guy?'_ Nami suddenly felt incredibly alone at this moment. Everyone was gone, no one knew she was in trouble, and none of her nakama were due back anytime soon. She would have to rely on herself now. "Well… I…it's just that…" Nami stuttered as she searched for a reason for this man to let her go. "I mean… isn't this a bit much? I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. Sure I'd be mad too if my crew was beaten up and all but-"

"Little miss, I want the location of your captain." Tison no longer had any humor in his voice and his eyes had hardened into steel.

The navigator felt the bottom drop out of her chest, there really was no talking her way out of this. "I can't… I won't tell you where he is." Nami lowered her head ready for whatever she thought the consequences would be for a negative answer.

"Well, if the captain refuses to face me again, his crew will suffer for him. You'll have to pass this message on to him for me." Tison said in a resigned way. Noticing a tree with a swing attached to one of the branches next to the staircase leading to the upper deck. He motioned his men to follow him. "We're going to need the ropes, Kuza." He told his first mate. The wispy haired blonde man nodded and with a swift flick of his sword the swing fell from the branch and the ropes were cut loose from the wooden seat.

Nami didn't have much choice but to follow the Whiplash captain as the two brothers dragged her after them. _'What does he mean, message? What's he planning to do?'_ Nami's silent questions were answered by the tall blonde man that had cut the ropes free from the swing. As soon as the twins pulled her close enough to the tree he started to tie one end of the rope around her left wrist. The navigator tried yanking her hand free but it was useless. As soon as he was done with that arm her two captors shoved her hard against the side of the tree.

"Make sure she's on there nice and close. Wouldn't want these ropes to be too loose, now would we?" Kuza sneered and the twins chuckled but Tison didn't join in, he was standing a little apart from his crew mates, just waiting for them to set it up.

There was a hard tug on Nami's left arm as the blonde first mate pulled her even closer into the side of the tree. The bark scraped across her cheek where her face was turned to the side in order to try and see what was going on around her. There was a deep fear clawing at Nami's heart by this time. Her head was screaming at her, trying to come up with an escape plan without giving her captain up to these pirates. She couldn't lie to them. This man, Tison, didn't seem the type to fall for something so simple.

All the while the grip of the two brothers didn't loosen on her shoulders even a little. "Ahh…dammit. What the hell?" Nami cursed in pain as with another hard jerk she felt her right arm being wrenched as far around the tree trunk as the blonde man, Kuza, could make it go. Then the rope was being tied around her right wrist as well. _'This is bad! This is really, really, bad! Luffy, where are you?'_

XxXxX

**The Previous Day**

It was a warm and bright morning as the pirate ship, Thousand Sunny, cut through the calm waves of the Grand Line. The Strawhat crew on board said ship were all doing their own thing after breakfast. Zoro was in the middle of his after breakfast nap, he was snoozing near the back of the ship this time so he wouldn't get trampled on by Luffy, Chopper, or Ussop. Those three were dancing around on the lawn deck to Brook's fiddle. The boney musician was laughing right along with the captain, doctor, and sniper. Sanji had gone back in the kitchen to make his two favorite ladies a refreshing mid-morning snack. Franky had also moved inside, his latest little trinket was constantly in danger of being squashed outside. Nami was tending her tangerine trees and looked up every now and then to enjoy the music and smile at the other's laughter that floated across the ship. Robin was likewise tending to her flower garden and enjoying the lively music provided by Brook.

Suddenly the peaceful morning atmosphere was shattered by a barrage of cannon fire. Sunny rocked as a cannonball barely missed the side of the ship. Nami was thrown off her feet but managed to catch herself on one of her trees. There was a crash from the kitchen as whatever Sanji was making slid to the floor. The previous laughter from the lawn deck turned into surprised shouts. They were under attack and had been taken by surprise.

"You idiots, why weren't you watching for this?" Nami yelled after hitting Ussop, Chopper, Brook, and Luffy over the head. At the same time forgetting to bring up the fact that she hadn't been keeping a look out either.

Ussop didn't forget though. "Why are you hitting us for? You weren't keeping watch along with us."

Another round of cannon fire broke up the argument as everyone scrambled to prepare for battle. "Never mind that now, just get to the cannons and sink that ship." Nami ordered and the sharpshooter hurried to do as told. Luffy had already run off to help Franky, Zoro and Sanji protect Sunny from the attacking cannonballs. Meanwhile the others, with nothing to do, stood back and watched as the enemy ship sailed closer. The stranger's ship was bigger than Sunny but just as agile in the water, plus they had the advantage of the wind on their side. So despite Ussop's excellent marksmanship the other pirate ship was able to avoid most of his shots.

All too soon the enemy ship was close enough where cannons would only do more harm than good. Thankfully this freed up the monster trio and Franky to help defend against the pirates set to invade Sunny. "It looks like these guys want to know how they'll fare in a close range fight." Sanji remarked as he stepped back beside Ussop waiting for the other pirates to board.

Zoro grinned around the handle of his prized sword. "Your job is done now cook. You can relax and let me take care of this."

"What? Like I'm going to leave this to you? You worthless do nothing swordsman." Sanji growled out indignantly and glared at the green haired man next to him.

The first mate's grin widened. "What do you say we see who is really the more worthless, heh, love cook?"

Sanji smirked matching Zoro's own. "A contest with you Marimo, sounds good." And without further plans or waiting the two pirates jumped the distance between Sunny and the other ship. It wasn't too far a reach, only a couple of yards, and the contest was on.

The sounds of surprised yells and the noise of battle started almost immediately. Luffy grinned and was about to join in the fun when the fun came to him. Whether it was to get away from Sanji and Zoro or if this was planned already, a large group of pirates swarmed over the side of their ship and onto Sunny's deck, though the situation wasn't any better for them. On the grassy lawn the invading pirates were met by the backup force of the Strawhat crew. This being Ussop, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Nami. Joining in with Zoro and Sanji on the other ship Luffy was laughing loudly while taking out most of the main enemy force.

Nami grinned as she jumped the railing of the other ship. "It sure is lucky these guys happened to drop in, our money was running low again." With that the pirate thief disappeared in search of treasure or any other valuable artifacts. The majority of the fighting had been drawn to the deck so Nami had free reign of most of the ship. After only a few minutes of searching the orange haired navigator found what she was looking for- the treasure hold- unfortunately for her these pirates seemed to be flat broke. There were still a few bags of treasure left, though they were kinda small, Nami never passed up a chance for a few extra belli. Grabbing the bags she headed back to Sunny, the only resistance she met with was an older man with light mahogany hair, he looked surprised she was making off with the last bit of their money. He tried to stop her, the key word here is tried. Nami pulled out her Clima Tact and gave the guy a good electric shock before stepping over his body and continuing on her way.

The fight was over quickly, even with the Strawhat's being fairly outnumbered. The pirates of the Whiplash crew, as their captain named them, only had a few strong fighters. The first mate was a fair swordsman and gave Zoro quite a good fight, as evidenced by the green haired man's satisfied smirk. And, two dark haired twins gave Franky a bit of trouble before Chopper arrived to help the shipwright out. The opposing captain was a goner as soon as he got Luffy angry, though what he actually said to get the easy going straw hat wearing boy upset was lost to the noisiness of the fight.

Zoro and Sanji were the only ones within earshot and they weren't talking.

Afterwards Sanji was silently fuming and pouting at the outcome of the contest- Zoro had won by two. Nami had ordered Ussop to clean up the deck of any useful weapons the Whiplash pirates had left behind and Chopper was busy patching up the small wounds his crewmates had accumulated in the skirmish. Luffy had gone to sit on Sunny's head as soon as the excitement of the fight died down and things resumed a sense of normalcy.

Luffy couldn't shake the feeling that had come over him when that guy started to speak about Nami the way he did. It made him really mad. There were plenty of other times when he had been angry and acted because of that anger but what that guy said made his blood boil.

"_Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy shouted bowling over five guys at once and sending them rolling to the ground. He laughed and looked around for someone else to take out but it seemed Zoro and Sanji had it all taken care of. He could even see some of the fight going on over the rails of Sunny, it looked like Brook was holding his own easily, and he could see Nami and Ussop close together. Suddenly there was a long low whistle to his left. Luffy turned to see an older man with fading mahogany colored hair and a cunning smile. He was somewhat charred and Luffy smirked when he recognized the outcome of messing with Nami._

_The man looked over to where he could see Nami and Ussop, also Robin on the other side of his ship, then back to Luffy. "Damn, those are some fine looking ladies. You fellas sure are lucky bastards." His smile turned even more sly._

_Luffy just grinned back pretending not to get the insinuation. "Yep. We're lucky to have them as nakama." A hard edge came into his dark eyes as if warning the older man he was already on dangerous ground. The other pirate didn't take his eyes off Nami for a few seconds longer than Luffy liked but he didn't turn away to check on his navigator._

"_I should introduce myself here." The man smiled and motioned to himself. "The name's Tison, I'm captain of the Whiplash pirates, and I have a deal for you Strawhat." Luffy looked up in mild curiosity but immediately didn't like the look in the captain's gray eyes. "What say you boys loan 'em to us for the night, and we'll call off this little scuffle. I guarantee your little girls will know a few new tricks when they come back."_

_The older captain didn't seem to catch the heated glare Luffy sent his way or the dangerous aura he was now sending out. "Or, if ya want to split, I'll be glad to take that little orange haired firecracker off your hands." Luffy heard the lightning crackle and the resulting cry of a number of enemy pirates that had gotten too close to the navigator and her Clima Tact. "If she's any good maybe I could even buy her off ya, whatcha say?"_

_Contrary to popular belief, Monkey D. Luffy is not dumb. He is largely innocent and naïve and he'll act like an idiot most times but the young pirate captain knew an insult when he heard one. And, he could tell when his crew was being disrespected. He also knew from past experience that Nami would not take kindly to some guy talking about her like that. A flash of memory from when he, Zoro, and Nami were on Jaya played through his mind and what that pirate from Bellamy's crew said to her. Even though she never came out and told him, Luffy knew that comment had bothered Nami a great deal. With the straw hat shadowing his eyes, the rubber boy gave off a whole different air, and he stepped forward to give his answer._

Luffy frowned, he was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the call to lunch. "Huh?" The rubber captain turned at hearing his name being called again and looked down to see Nami standing behind him with a concerned look on her face.

"Aren't you coming to lunch, Luffy?" The navigator asked him and Luffy's eyes widened.

"Lunch? You guys are eating without me?" Luffy yelled and jumped off Sunny's head to land right next to Nami. He stumbled a bit which caught Nami's attention right off.

The navigator grabbed onto the collar of Luffy's top with one hand while the other ran over a thin but long rip in the back of his red vest. "Luffy, what happened to your shirt?" When Nami's hand touched the back of his vest, it pulled away wet. She looked down at her hand to see that it was pink with faded blood. Because of the red material of his shirt the blood had blended right in. Then before Luffy could try to get out of her grip she pulled the bottom of his shirt up to see his back. There was a long deep cut going diagonal across Luffy's skin. "Or the more correct question would be what happened to you? Why didn't you let Chopper treat this?"

Luffy craned his neck around to get a look at the wound on his back, it was only manageable because of his rubber ability, but it was still creepy to Nami seeing her captain with his head on backwards. "Oh, this, that pirate captain gave it to me when we were fighting. It doesn't really hurt that much." He winced as Nami again grazed her hand over the wound. "Or it didn't until you started touching it." His head snapped around to face forward again and this time he turned his body to face Nami, consequently keeping his back away from her hands. "Come on Nami lets go eat, it'll be okay by itself." Luffy started edging away from the navigator but didn't get far as Nami grabbed the collar of his vest again.

"No way Luffy. You're going to get this treated right now. What if it got infected or something." She then began to pull Luffy by his collar so he couldn't just stretch himself and led him towards the infirmary room.

The captain looked questioningly at the orange haired girl. "Where are we going Nami? I thought you wanted Chopper to treat this?"

Nami looked over her shoulder and glared half-heartedly at the younger boy. "I would but then he'd miss lunch. Chopper doesn't need to miss a meal because you were being a moron." Nami threw open the infirmary door and let Luffy go. She motioned him to sit down on the medical bed while she started to search the cabinets for antiseptic and bandages. "Honestly, can't you go one week without getting recklessly hurt over some stupid reason?"

Luffy looked on the verge of saying something but ended up shaking his head and grinning stupidly at her. "You're right Nami. I'm sorry." He rubbed his head in nervousness. "It was just something stupid."

Nami looked over at the captain and her harsh expression softened. She huffed and came over to sit in front of him on Chopper's doctor chair. Nami could feel Luffy's gaze on her and so she focused on his injuries and what her hands were doing so that their eyes wouldn't meet. His look was so unnerving when he stared at her like that.

The younger pirate's dark eyes watched as his navigator moved around the infirmary, he couldn't help it, his eyes were automatically drawn to her. Luffy's gaze followed her as she walked over and sat in front of him. Neither one said anything as Nami started to work and a comfortable silence settled over the pair. '_Her hands are really soft. That's why I love it when we touch.'_ Luffy couldn't help but think as the girl's hands moved over the skin on his back after he took his top off. The antiseptic stung a bit as Nami applied it but Luffy didn't even wince.

"Well, at least you won." Nami didn't look up from her work as she finally broke the silence.

The blank look Luffy had earlier changed into a soft smile as he looked down at his navigator. She refused to meet his gaze for some reason but he could see she wasn't mad at him anymore. There was a familiar warm feeling fluttering around in his chest as he watched Nami concentrate on cleaning up the other smaller scratches and cuts from the fight. "Yeah, course I did." It wasn't boastful or confident, it was simple and quiet, as if Nami should have known better.

The quiet, very un-Luffy like tone was what made Nami finally look up from tending to the cuts on Luffy's body. To the navigator's surprise she found herself a lot closer to her captain than she remembered being. Her eyes met Luffy's own onyx gaze and her hands slowed to a stop along his skin. His warm breath swept over her face and Nami felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest at his nearness, their noses were almost touching, and she suddenly found it very hard to breathe. _'How does he always do this?'_ Slowly Luffy leaned down to press his lips over hers in a soft kiss.

"You worry too much Nami. It'll take more than this to get rid of me." Luffy spoke quietly as he pulled away slowly. "But, thanks for being the best girlfriend." He grinned widely.

Suddenly the infirmary door squeaked open, the slight noise breaking the spell Nami and Luffy seemed to be under. Pulling away at the same time the pair of pirates looked over to see the young doctor poke his head in through the door. "Oh, Luffy, Nami there you are. You guys didn't come to lunch. Is everything alright?" Chopper said in a rush as he spied the bandages and Luffy's, now cared for, injuries.

Cursing silently at the reindeer's timing Nami quickly stood up but didn't dare look back at her captain. She was sure if she did her blush would give them away. "Sorry about doing your job for you Chopper but I took the liberty of patching Luffy up while you were eating." She said with an apologetic smile.

Chopper gave the bandages on Luffy a once over before smiling up at Nami. "That's okay Nami. It's a good thing someone did." Chopper grinned and started to put the supplies the navigator had used back in their places. He didn't seem to notice the flustered look on Nami's face. "Oh, right, Sanji said that he saved some food for you guys if your hungry."

Jumping up, the rubber captain dashed for the door yelling something neither Chopper nor Nami could make out about his food. _'Well, there's always tomorrow.'_ Nami shrugged and much more slowly followed Luffy to the galley knowing Sanji would protect her share of lunch from the ravenous captain.

As planned the Thousand Sunny finally sailed up to a new island as the sun was setting in the sky, just in time to settle in for the night. Neither Robin or Nami knew much about this island as the last one they came from was uninhabited. From the evening weather they could tell it was a summer island though, which was exciting for the younger boys. That meant they could go swimming and hang out on the beach. Ussop and Luffy raced each other to the side of the ship as it was docking to get a better look at the darkening town. Chopper was right behind them and he jumped up onto Ussop's shoulders to get a better look over the side.

"There's no point in getting excited now, ya know." Franky said coming down from the crow's nest. "It's too late to go exploring today. You bros are gonna have to wait." The three youngest members pouted and grumbled but turned away to finish helping with the docking of the ship. After that work was done Nami and Robin met with the dock master to negotiate docking fare, which Nami came away looking fairly pleased. The archeologist had night watch so after the sun had officially set the other Strawhats retreated to their beds for the night.

=0=0=0=

Okay that's the first chapter. Don't forget to review.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, I didn't write this story, so everything bad that happens isn't my fault. It's all her. (hides behind computer and points fingers at snickering friend) I know I have my own sadistic side and I love taking it out on Nami but it's only so she can rise above the obstacles I manage to put in her way. I usually do make it up at the end of my stories though, don't I? Usually…

I should probably explain now before I forget, the layout of Sunny is from Movie 10, what I could tell from it anyway. This means that there are two trees near the back wall of the lawn deck where the slide and stairs lead to the upper decks. A tree on one side near the slide and another one on the other side near the stairs. The tree with the swing is the one near the stairs. Both trees are pretty close to the slide/stairs respectively so that looking from one side of the ship or the other you wouldn't be able to see anything near the trunks until you moved away from the rails.

I think that should cover the important stuff anyway. If you still don't know what the heck I'm talking about, feel free to ask.

Disclaimer: Insert Random Disclaimer

**The Attack  
****Ch 2**

By the next morning the incident with the strange pirate crew from the day before was all but forgotten as the Strawhats looked forward to another great day of exploring the island and having some fun. Breakfast was the usual battlefield with Luffy trying to steal everyone but Nami and Robin's food. The other guys ate as fast as they could while fending off Luffy's wandering hands.

"Luffy give that back!" Ussop screamed as Luffy just snatched the last pieces of bacon from the sniper's plate.

The rubber captain grinned and swallowed up the food. "Well I could but it might be a little squishy. Shishi-"

CRASH! Sanji placed his foot back on the ground and preceded to straighten his suit after kicking Luffy into the far wall of the dining room. The chef smiled as he saw that the captain had left a life sized dent in the wood. Franky wasn't too happy about it though. Nami just rolled her eyes at her crewmate's antics and Robin chuckled. It seemed Luffy's weird mood from after the fight was also forgotten as things continued on as normal.

"You shitty captain, watch your mouth when you're around the ladies." Sanji growled as he lit up a cigarette and sat back down at the table.

"Alright you guys, listen up." Nami said as the others finished eating. "I've already handed out your allowances, so just try and stay out of trouble. Remember the log takes four days to set here and we can't have the villagers running us out of town before then." The navigator looked specifically at three of her crewmates when she said this. Namely Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy. All the guys nodded, not daring to argue against Nami, who could put them in debt faster than they could blink. "And, try not to destroy anything either. Got it?" After a general mumbled agreement was heard from the usual troublemakers, Nami stood up and got ready to head out of the kitchen. Franky, Ussop, and Chopper left also to get ready to go into town.

Before leaving though Nami turned to look at Luffy who was still innocently stuffing his face with sausage and eggs. "Luffy," she grabbed the boy by the shoulder and turned him so that he was facing her, "I know you weren't paying attention before so listen now. If you destroy anything on this island that I have to pay for I'll take every belli of it out of your meat supply. Got that?"

The smile that had been plastered on the young pirate's face melted and he frowned in an almost pout. "Aw, Nami, that's not fair." At the navigator's stern look the boy drooped and nodded sullenly in agreement.

After breakfast was cleaned up and Ussop and Luffy finished their usual begging Nami for more spending money, which failed, the crew went their own ways into town. Sanji had to go to the market since they really needed the supplies. Brook decided to accompany Chopper and Robin to the village bookshop. It wasn't a very big selection but according to Robin, 'you could never tell what little shop held a hidden treasure.' Franky had to find a spare parts store for some things he needed to get for a new invention and Zoro disappeared somewhere to train. Luffy was the last one off the ship, Ussop was waiting for him on the dock to go explore the town. Nami had volunteered earlier to guard the ship today in spite of Sanji offering to take the watch for her.

Before jumping over the side and joining the waiting sharpshooter Luffy wrapped his rubbery arms around the orange haired girl and brought her close to give her a quick but heated kiss. He pulled away leaving the navigator slightly dazed. "Tomorrow is ours, right Nami?"

"Absolutely, Luffy, just for us." Nami wrapped her arms around Luffy's neck intending to bring the boy back down for another kiss.

"Oi, Luffy, come on. What're you waiting for?" Ussop called up, unintentionally ruining the moment.

Luffy growled low under his breath and Nami giggled as she gave him a slight peck on the lips before letting him go. That was the trouble with having a secret relationship with your captain. Nami leaned over the side of the ship as Luffy followed Ussop down the rope ladder. "Remember guys, be back by supper. I'm not gonna go searching for you in the dark." The navigator watched as Luffy turned back to her and give a little wave before he and Ussop ran down the street and disappeared around a corner. "Well, that's that," Nami grinned and turned to survey the empty deck, "it's been awhile since I've had the ship to myself."

Make no mistake, Nami loved her crewmates, even the love-sick cook and empty headed swordsman. But, there was a limit to what any woman could take of a bunch of rowdy young males stuck together in close quarters. Not to mention that the last time she had been able to work on her maps without any interruption was almost three islands ago. With the thought of undisturbed work time Nami headed for the observation room with a grin. It was almost too beautiful a day to spend it over her mapping desk but Nami could feel rain in the air. There was a storm on the way.

XxXxXxX

The little port village was quiet, as most small towns usually are, but the streets here were very nearly devoid of people. The town's citizens who _were_ out and about didn't stay on the streets for long. Honestly, it gave Chopper the creeps. "I wonder where everyone is?" The young doctor asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, Chopper-kun. Maybe this town is haunted and the ghosts suck up your blood if you remain outside for too long." Brook suggested lightly as he turned to regard the nearly empty streets with a morbid curiosity.

Chopper looked over at his companions with a shocked expression. "Do you really think so Robin? Could it really be a blood sucking ghost?" The reindeer form of Chopper started to tremble in fear though he had no reason to be afraid as of yet.

Robin looked down at her younger crewmate with a smile. "There is always the possibility Chopper-kun but in this case I sincerely doubt it."

"Oi, Luffy wait up." Ussop yelled as he chased after the rubber boy. The captain was a few paces ahead of the sniper and he laughed as the two friends raced each other down the street towards a food stand Ussop had found out about from a passing villager. The two of them had only explored half the village so far and were now stopping for lunch. Although, Luffy was disappointed by the lack of adventure to be had around the quiet little town. As Ussop pointed out, the log pose set in three more days, so that left some more time to explore the woods around the village.

Of course Luffy won the race to the meat stand but he waited for Ussop before turning to order from the meat seller. As the cook was preparing the ten chunks of meat Luffy ordered and the two for Ussop the Strawhat captain watched the villagers pass him by on the street. Like Chopper, he noticed their hurried and anxious movements, but dismissed it on account of the changing weather. The day that had started out warm and sunny had suddenly turned cool with heavy gray clouds rolling in from the ocean. Luffy didn't dwell on it too much though because the weather reminded him of Nami and the few 'almost' moments they had been having the last few days.

XxXxX

"Ahh… dammit. What the hell?" Nami cursed in pain and with another hard jerk she felt her right arm being wrenched as far around the tree trunk as the blonde man, Kuza, could make it go. Then the rope was being tied around her right wrist as well. _'This is bad! This is really, really, bad! Luffy, where are you?'_

Kuza, the first mate to the Whiplash pirate crew, finally stepped away from the tree and the restrained girl that was tied to it. He admired his work, it certainly was lucky that these pirates had such a conveniently placed tree waiting for them, and plenty of rope to use also. The orange haired woman wasn't going to be moving around much, bound like that. "We're ready captain." He said, moving back next to the two Lisha brothers, who had also backed off the girl. The twins were grinning and snickering amongst themselves, like there was some great joke in what was about to happen.

Tison came forward at last, the final few minutes had been spent sizing the girl up, and deciding what the best way to begin would be. He walked right up to Nami's side and picked up a spare piece of rope from the ground. "No offense to ya Kuza but I have one final adjustment." The first mate nodded and Tison brought the rough binding up around Nami's face. Forcing it in-between her teeth the Whiplash captain made an impromptu gag of the rope as he tied it off at the back of the navigator's head.

The harsh feel of the rope as it rubbed against the sides of Nami's mouth made this all the more real for the navigator. With this in place she couldn't call for help or even tell the man what he wanted to know. It was a clear signal that Nami had lost her chance, he was going through with this even if she would give him the answer he wanted. Nami could just see the captain out of the corner of her eye as he backed away from her again. He had removed his long coat and his white shirt had no sleeves to it. Her worried brown eyes widened considerably when she noticed something was off with the man's arm. It had lengthened and thinned until it was dragging the grassy surface of Sunny's deck. Breath quickening rapidly the orange haired girl suddenly realized the pirate captain's arm looked a lot like a whip.

"I should tell ya young lady, that I possess the abilities of the kei-kei fruit. As you'll soon see it can turn any part of my body into any type of whip I need use of." Tison twirled what used to be his arm around his head and let it go with a sharp crack above where Nami was standing. "I gotta admit, it's not so useful in a real fight, but it does come in handy when I need to punish somebody."

Nami trembled uncontrollably, if she wasn't tied to the tree she was sure her legs wouldn't even support her. She mentally begged anybody to intervene, Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, she would even welcome a Marine attack at this point. But, her silent pleas went unheard and unanswered. In her peripheral vision Nami saw the man wind back his arm again and she tensed for the impact. With a resounding crack the navigator felt the first bite of the whip as it tore through the fabric of her t-shirt and into her skin. Nami clenched her teeth around the rope in her mouth and automatically tried to flinch away from the pain. However, her being so tightly bound around the tree trunk made it impossible to move in any direction.

Tison frowned after his first hit was unsuccessful in getting any sounds from the girl. She was tougher than he gave her credit for. It didn't bother him that much, they always wound up screaming for mercy in the end. The Whiplash captain heard the two Lisha brothers laughing again and Kuza smirking nastily, his crew usually did enjoy a show.

The man grinned dangerously and brought back his arm for the second strike. He felt as his whip-arm cut into the young woman's back once again, deeper this time than the first, but once more she didn't offer up those pain filled noises he was aiming for.

Again and again the lash was applied to her back but Nami still didn't cry out. It was what that captain wanted, she knew it, and defiantly refused to give it to him. Minutes or hours could have passed but all there was for Nami was pain. The deep marks criss-crossed her back and she was in more pain than she ever remembered being in, but she'd be damned before showing it to these bastards. Her shirt was in tatters and soaked with blood until the majority wasn't even the original yellow color anymore. Nami bit down and gnawed at the rough gag in her mouth until she tasted blood, tears streamed from her eyes blurring her already wavering vision, and her nails dug into the bark of the sides of the tree for lack of anything else to grab onto. Everything was pushed from her mind except for the unquestionable existence of pain and the one fact she kept repeating with every strike of the whip.

'_I will NOT scream!'_

XxXxX

It had finally started to rain, lightly pattering against the shop windows, as Franky walked out of the supplies store. Picking up the parts needed for the ship and some extra inventions he was working on was a fairly simple accomplishment for the shipwright and luckily the supply shop he found had all the things he needed. Afterwards Franky decided to poke around some of the smaller stores off the main road. The rain was only a light drizzle at this point and he wanted to see if there were any good clothing shops around, he needed to find some new speedos anyway. It was on these side streets he ran into three other members of the Strawhat crew. Robin, Chopper, and Brook were just coming out of a small hole-in-the-wall type bookshop.

"Ohh, Franky, those look so cool." Chopper gaped at the bits and pieces of shiny metal poking through the shipwright's bags. "Are you gonna build something even more awesome for Sunny?"

Franky, always eager to show off his designs and skills, began explaining the plans he had for these particular pieces of equipment. Unfortunately he got a little too in-detail and lost Chopper two minutes in. The rain started to become a bit heavier causing the four Strawhats to decide to cut their shopping trip short for the day. They started to head back towards the harbor again, making their way through the main street market, and saving some young women from Sanji's persistent advances. The grumbling cook followed after Franky but he had persuaded Chopper to carry the groceries in his animal form.

The clouds were a really dark gray and the rainfall suddenly started to come down harder as the group walked out onto the docks. There they were greeted by a familiar face. "Zoro, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be gone all day training?" Chopper asked as he walked up to the swordsman.

"I would have, if this weird place didn't keep moving the way out of town." Zoro scowled with his arms crossed over his chest. His green hair was matted to his head by the rain. "So I decided to come back to the ship and train instead."

Everyone, besides Robin, face-palmed. The archeologist just offered a small smile.

By this time they all had reached the Sunny again but was surprised to see the rope ladder that usually hung from the side of the ship, while someone was on guard, had been pulled up. "Oi, Nami, what are you doin' up there?" Zoro called out slightly agitated that the navigator would pull the ladder up and make him wait out in the rain. "Do you mind or can you lower the ladder sometime today?"

"Gomu Gomu no~" Suddenly Luffy's voice sounded from behind the group and they all turned to see their captain with his arms stretched forward and holding onto two dock posts. "~Rocket!"

"Oh here we go again." Zoro grumbled, already knowing what was gonna happen. Without further warning Luffy blasted off from his spot down the docks and flew straight into the swordsman. Thanks to Luffy's momentum and rubber ability both pirates ricocheted off a large post attached to the docks and bounced over the rails of Sunny to crash loudly onto the lawn deck in a tangle of limbs and cursing. "You couldn't wait to climb on board like everyone else?" Zoro groaned from underneath Luffy's tangled body.

As always it didn't harm Luffy one bit. "Nope, couldn't wait." He grinned widely, all the while trying to untangle his limbs from Zoro's. While doing that, something shiny caught Luffy's eyes. He turned his head to look over at it and was surprised to see Nami's Clima Tact lying in the grass some distance away. The raindrops were pitter-pattering on the smooth metal surface of the weather weapon. The three pieces were carelessly thrown near the stairs leading up to the front of the ship where the helm was. Luffy and Zoro finally managed to untangle themselves and Luffy at once ran to grab the unassembled pieces of the Clima Tact, a look of worry crossing over his face.

The swordsman had known something was wrong the minute they landed. A noise like that would have definitely brought their navigator out to see what was going on. The fact that she wasn't out here busting heads as usual immediately caught his attention. Untangling from Luffy he saw the younger boy run off to another part of the deck before turning to lower the ladder for the others. "Oh _shit_!" Zoro wasn't prepared for the sight that met his eyes as he turned around. _'That explains the smell of blood.' _Zoro thought as he stared, slightly sick, at the sight in front of him. It wasn't meant to be unfeeling, or not that he didn't care, it was just how the swordsman's mind worked.

It all happened in slow motion, at Zoro's exclamation Luffy turned around to see what was going on with his first mate. He was still holding the three metal pieces. He suddenly stopped dead and all color seemed to drain from the Strawhat captain's face. A strangled noise was the only sound he could make. His very breath hung in his throat making it near impossible to breathe.

With the rest of the crew seemingly forgotten, a pair of slender arms suddenly appeared on Sunny's railing and tossed the rope ladder over the side so everyone else could climb up also. "Have you seen Nami-chan yet?" Robin asked as she stepped over the side of the ship. She looked over at Luffy who was still as a stone statue and then to Zoro who had a hard, dangerous, look on his face. The historian noticed that they were both looking in the same direction. "What is it? Did you find something?"

Neither answered which caused Robin's curiosity to peak. Whatever had the boys attention was on the other side of the stairs and out of her immediate sight. Looking rather confused the blue eyed archeologist stepped back from the side of the ship a few paces and followed Zoro's line of sight. The scene that greeted her was something she wouldn't even imagine putting her worst enemy through.

The strong smell of blood hit Chopper before he even poked his head over the railing, something in his gut told him whatever he was going to see was gonna be bad. The young doctor had followed Robin up the ladder and was just climbing over the side at about the time the older woman finally found her voice again. "Chopper quickly." The tone of command wasn't one usually associated with the normally calm Robin but the doctor instincts in Chopper recognized the urgent tone and ran to Robin's side immediately. He saw at once that neither Robin, Zoro, or Luffy had been hurt so he followed his nose and nearly screamed at where it led him.

They had found their navigator.

=0=0=0=

*Kei is Whip in japanese*

Well that's chapter 2. Dont know when chapter 3 is gonna be posted probably sometime next week or so.  
Are my friend and I cruel enough for you yet? :P You guys are really making me feel bad for torturing Nami like this though.


	3. Chapter 3

WHY WONT THIS THING LET ME UPLOAD! Ah, oh, looks like it finally works. This is giving me such a headache, I've been trying to upload since last week. Well, anyhow here's chapter 3. Hope everyone enjoys and hopefully next chapter will be out sometime this weekend, fingers-crossed. And don't forget to review.

Disclaimer: Don't own so please don't sue… wont get anything anyway

****

The Attack  
Ch 3

The cold rain poured down from the darkened sky, everyone was soaked, but the crew standing on the deck of Thousand Sunny were frozen in shock. Zoro's teeth ground against each other as he stared at the sight of his money loving crewmate strung up against one of the trees on the ship, someone was going to pay, he fingered the hilts of his three swords. Robin couldn't move, her eyes were glued to the bloody scene before her, she knew they had to get Nami down and yet she couldn't move. Luffy's mind was blank, all he could do was stare, this was a nightmare he was sure to wake up from any minute.

Nami had been left tied to the tree trunk of the one tree that had the swing attached to it. Now the wooden seat lay useless on the ground and the ropes were cut off. The navigator was unconscious and only supported by the bindings around her wrists, blood was everywhere, and what hadn't been soaked into her clothes was slowly being washed away by the consistent rainfall. The life giving liquid covered her back and ran down her legs to pool at her feet, staining her shirt, or the tattered remains of it.

For probably the first time Chopper didn't go into panic mode at the sight of an injured nakama, instead, he was the one who acted first. In a flash the little reindeer had transformed into Heavy Point and was next to the tree and inspecting the unnaturally still body of the Strawhat navigator. He was horrified beyond belief that someone would do this to Nami, even if she was bossy and loud-mouthed sometimes. He was the doctor here, She was counting on him not to lose his cool, finding his voice Chopper started handing out orders. "We need something to cut her down and I have to clean her up before I can start doing anything." He looked up at his shell-shocked crew hoping someone would actually follow orders.

Franky, who had climbed up after Chopper, was the next to move forward. None of them had seen him come up the ladder, as focused as they were on Nami. He was followed by Zoro, the swordsman already had his katana out to cut the ropes. They didn't notice the tight grip on the sword hilt he had.

"Oi, you guys." Ussop climbed up the ladder and over the railing. He was out of breath from trying to keep up with Luffy this whole time. "Did ya'll find Nami yet? Sanji said she wasn't answering anybody." The curly haired sharpshooter trailed off as he saw his crewmates. He frowned at the shock written on most of their faces. He could tell instantly that something was wrong. Even Luffy was quiet.

"Yeah, we found her." Zoro said. There was a hard edge to his voice and his eyes spoke of the pain he was going to inflict on the bastards who had done this. Even if she was a greedy, bossy, temperamental, conniving, woman. Nami was still his nakama and crewmate. He didn't look at Ussop as he walked around to the back of the tree where the rope stretched around.

Somehow this didn't ease Ussop's worry. The way Zoro looked when he said that only made the sniper's uneasy feeling grow. He actually jumped when Sanji climbed up the ladder behind him and pushed him out of the way.

Ussop stumbled over to the other side of Luffy and could almost swear that the temperature around his friend had dropped a few degrees and it had nothing to do with the rain. The long nosed sharpshooter could hear Luffy's teeth grinding against each other even over the pitter-patter of rain drops. Ussop himself fell into a shocked, horrified, silence at seeing just why everyone was so still and quiet.

With his straw hat pulled down over his eyes Luffy only stared on as his nakama moved to help Nami. Three little words were the only thing Luffy said since finding the clima tact on deck. "Who did this?"

Zoro sighed as he pulled Wado out of its white sheath. "The best guess I have is those guys we ran into yesterday. They're the only ones that would have a reason to do this." He said waiting for the doctor's cue to slice through the ropes.

Chopper was too busy looking at Nami's injuries to listen to the captain's quiet question, or cook raging in the background about how he would send the bastards to hell, or to any of the conversation going on around him. Her back was the worst, obviously, it was nearly impossible to tell where the actual injuries started. It was so covered with blood he couldn't even tell what weapon had done this. Those pirates, or whoever they were, had barely left any skin untouched. Her hands were bleeding also, more precisely, her fingers were bleeding from digging into the rough tree bark. Chopper shuddered at the thought of what had taken place to leave the tough navigator in this state.

"Sanji, I need you to boil some water to help clean these cuts." Chopper's demanding voice got the cook to shut up and turn to the little reindeer. It was unusual to hear Chopper use that tone.

"Boil water, why?" Sanji asked.

"I don't have any more antiseptic, Nami used the last of it yesterday on Luffy." Chopper said, then he turned to Ussop and Brook without missing a beat. Sanji hurriedly disappeared into the kitchen- anything to help his angel. "I need you guys to go back into town and buy some more. Bandages too." They both nodded, all seriousness now.

Chopper carefully undid the short piece of rope tied around Nami's mouth that had served as a makeshift gag. Franky, who was beside Chopper, winced at the sight of the bloody raw marks around Nami's mouth from rubbing against the course material. Meanwhile Brook and Ussop jumped down to the dock and dashed back into town searching for the supplies they needed.

"Okay Zoro, be careful." With a nod from the doctor, who was supporting Nami in place of the ropes. Zoro quickly sliced through the bonds holding their orange haired navigator in place. As the ropes were cut Chopper easily kept Nami from falling to the ground by holding onto her shoulders against the tree. As gently as he could, Chopper lowered the limp body into the waiting arms of Franky. He had been instructed to carry Nami up to the infirmary while Chopper himself got ready to tend to the numerous wounds.

Throughout all of this Luffy hadn't moved from his spot. He stood rooted to the deck. The look in his eyes was nearly impossible to describe, fire flared in his dark orbs, his gaze spoke of nothing but the absolute pain he would bring to the ones responsible for this. His fingers gripped the pieces to the Perfect Clima Tact so tightly even his hands shook against his sides. The raven haired captain clenched his eyes shut so he couldn't see the limp body of his girlfriend and navigator hanging lifelessly in the arms of the blue haired cyborg. _'Nami, why did I leave her alone? How could I let this happen? I'm supposed to protect her.'_

As gently as he was able Franky lifted his younger nakama in his arms, even as deadweight he had no trouble supporting her. Though the shipwright couldn't stop the grimace from the feeling of- not quite dry- blood that nearly covered the orange haired navigator.

"Franky," the young doctor said hastily but calmly, "you'll need to place her on her stomach so I can tend to her back first." Franky nodded but didn't speak. It seemed as if they were all struck dumb by the unnaturally cruel act of violence against one of their own. Except for Chopper handing out orders and instructions there had hardly been a word spoken amongst the crew. What was there to say in a situation like this?

XxXxX

Hours later the dark gray rain clouds still hung low in the sky but for the moment the heavy downpour had stopped. Sanji, Ussop, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Zoro were sitting around the dining table in the galley. There wasn't any use in waiting out in the cold rain and getting themselves sick, or so Robin logically stated, in a softer than normal voice. However, that didn't seem to be stopping Luffy. The young captain refused to leave his spot, sitting outside Chopper's infirmary door, rain or not. Sanji had boiled all the water Chopper needed and Ussop and Brook had returned in record time with bandages and antiseptic a bit later. Afterwards there was nothing to do but wait.

They waited silently, some staring blankly into space, all hoping for good news. Sanji had made a pot of tea at some point and while Robin and Franky both had cups they were too distracted to actually drink. Zoro was absently sharpening his swords off in one corner, he was looking to the future, and he was thinking what everyone else was thinking.

In one word: revenge.

Finally, as the late afternoon had given way to early evening, the door to the galley creaked open. Chopper walked in, tired, slightly bloody, and very serious. Everyone looked up as he and Luffy, who came in behind him, joined the others at the table. The little reindeer doctor looked completely drained. He didn't even look up or answer the questioning gazes of his nakama and several breaths were being held while waiting to hear the news about Nami.

Luffy sat at the table, the worry showing clearly in his eyes, now that the blind rage he had experienced before had cleared some. A few strands of his black hair was stuck to his face from sitting out in the rain, his trademark straw hat was gone, it was sitting comfortably on the bedside table in the infirmary. His gaze never left Chopper as the little reindeer seemed to gather himself.

Chopper took a minute or two so he could compose himself and at last looked up into the anxious and worried faces of his waiting crewmates. Luffy's expression was blank, patiently waiting for Chopper to speak. He couldn't show how worried he really was. If he did that it felt like he didn't believe Nami was strong enough to make it. Sanji was very nearly eating his cigarette with his nervous chewing on it. His fingers were drumming on the kitchen counter in a worried rhythm, all his nervous energy needing an outlet. The other crew members were all waiting patiently with various degrees of concern and worry written on their faces as well.

"Nami…" _You can do this, just like any other patient._ "…Nami has lost a lot of blood, there were so many wounds on her back. It looks like she was whipped…badly… It wouldn't have been as bad if I had gotten to her right off but… but… now…" Chopper took a deep breath, his big brown eyes swimming in unshed tears, but he managed to continue. "I've done everything I can do." He tried not to flinch as his crewmates all tensed at his words. "Nami has to wake up on her own. I've got her stabilized for the moment and if she can hold on till tomorrow, I think it'll be okay." He seemed to calm a bit, well, enough to accept the small cup of tea Robin handed him.

Collectively, it seemed, everyone let out a small sigh of relief. At least Nami still had a fighting chance and if there was one thing the Strawhat pirates knew it was that their navigator wasn't someone who just gave up on anything.

Robin placed a comforting hand on Chopper's shoulder. "You did very well Chopper-kun." The young reindeer looked up at the older woman with wide eyes over his cup of tea. "You were the one who acted first and your quick thinking might have even saved Nami-chan's life."

"Whatever you say, it won't make me happy." Chopper blushed and offered a small smile up at Robin though because of the circumstances and his own weariness the small doctor couldn't bring himself to put much enthusiasm into it. "I think someone will have to stay with her though. That way if she wakes up she won't be alone and to keep her from rolling onto her back in her sleep."

Sanji was quick to raise his hand. "I volun-"

"I'll do it." Luffy spoke up quietly, cutting Sanji off, and the chef wilted gloomily. Everyone turned to look at the uncharacteristically serious captain. He had hardly said three words since boarding Sunny and finding Nami in that state, much less strung three words together for a whole sentence. The problem was, Luffy wasn't particularly known for sitting still and being quiet over a long period of time, he was barely trusted with night watch.

Robin knew what the others were thinking without even looking at them. She would probably think the same but fortunately she had some inside information. "I think that would be okay Captain-san. If Chopper-kun agrees." She gave a slight nod to the hesitating reindeer.

"O…okay, I guess that would be fine." Chopper said trusting Robin's decision but still hesitant about letting the usually hyperactive boy stay with Nami. "But, Luffy, don't wake her up, and come get me right away if anything happens." Luffy gave a nod and Chopper was satisfied with that.

Knowing better than to argue with Luffy in this situation Sanji had to accept it. Getting up from his chair he went into the kitchen as if to prepare dinner but on second thought, Sanji looked across the counter and didn't figure anyone would be all that hungry. Luffy had already gotten up from his chair and was out the door, everyone else still sat around the table silently, each seemed to be in their own thoughts.

XxXxX

Luffy sat in the infirmary watching his orange haired navigator breath heavily in the medical bed. Drops of sweat covered her forehead, these he wiped away gently with a cool cloth, her body shook with each raspy breath. Chopper was in a nearly consent state of worry. The rest of the crew could only wait with baited breath, trusting the young doctor to know what to do, and Nami's strength. A day after the Thousand Sunny was attacked and their nakama left a bloody mess, Nami's temperature shot upwards, apparently her time yesterday out in the rain didn't help her situation. Luffy hadn't left her side since the night before, except for the times he had to go to the bathroom, he even ate his food in the infirmary.

Speaking of eating, it was then that Sanji walked in with a large tray of meat and other food he had made for lunch, Luffy didn't even look up at his crewmate's entrance. Sanji frowned down at his silent captain, it was strange to see the boy so quiet. He set the tray down on Chopper's desk and came to stand next to Nami's bed. "How is she?" Sanji asked quietly.

"It's the same." Luffy mumbled. He briefly glanced up at the chef's face and what met him was a tired, worried look. He was sure Sanji didn't know about his relationship with Nami, in a way he was a potential rival for Nami's attention, not that Luffy was ever the jealous type. But, there had been a few times Sanji had come close to getting his face punched in by the rubber captain for getting to lovey-dovey around Nami.

Sanji nodded, he took out one of his cigarettes and placed it in his mouth before seeming to think better of it and put it back in his pocket. "I see." He stayed there watching over Nami alongside Luffy for a minute or two then let out a deep sigh. "Don't let your food get cold." He muttered and walked out the door.

Luffy looked over at the large plate of delicious smelling food but his attention turned immediately to Nami when she shifted slightly under the blankets. He took the cloth and wet it with cool water and again held it against his girlfriend's forehead.

"…ffy…can't…"

The black haired boy lowered his gaze sadly at hearing her weak voice. "It's my fault. My fault this happened to you. I should have been here so this wouldn't happen. If I didn't want us to be a secret then I could've been with you. I'm sorry Nami." The captain rubbed his hands over his face trying to force his helpless tears back. It had been easy enough at first to keep his relationship with the navigaor a secret, almost like a game, but now he could only think about what he had missed with her. Nami's heavy, uneven, breathing echoed in his ears.

"How is he?" Zoro asked as Sanji came back into the dining room. The blonde cook had a troubled look on his face but looked up at the swordsman at hearing his question.

At first Sanji didn't say anything but then let out a sigh as he moved into the kitchen to get his own lunch. "He's the same." No one needed to hear anymore than that.

Zoro scowled and leaned back in his chair, already done eating. "Dammit, Nami better live through this, or there will be hell to pay to those lousy bastards."

The cook scoffed as he sat at the table next to Chopper and Franky. "Didn't know you cared so much about her, Marimo?"

Scowling deeper, Zoro glared across the table at the love-cook. "I don't, but Luffy does, and she's still a part of this crew. Also if anyone tells her this, I will personally run you through with all three of my swords." Chopper epped and scooted closer to Sanji while Ussop shivered in his seat. Robin only smiled that infuriatingly calm smile of hers and didn't believe the swordsman's denial for one second.

XxXxX

It was dark in the infirmary when Luffy walked in, the fading light of sunset didn't reach inside the small porthole, and it left the small room looking cold and lonely. For two nights Luffy had sat at Nami's bedside. During the three days since it happened he had been shooed out occasionally by Chopper when he tended to Nami's wounds but had rarely left the infirmary besides that.

Nami had yet to wake up but thankfully her fever had broken the day before causing everyone to breath a little easier. With the navigator being so weakened by the beating she had taken, it was the fever that could have done the most harm. Luffy looked to the side where the medical bed was and saw Nami still asleep on her stomach. Beside the bed the straw hat still rested. He hadn't worn it since that day.

Everyone had been surprised at how seriously Luffy was taking his new self appointed duty of watching over Nami, well, except for Robin. The captain suspected she must have known about him and the navigator being together. Zoro was simply waiting for the word from Luffy. The swordsman, like everyone else, wanted to pay back the pirates who did this. It was only because Luffy refused to leave Nami's side for very long that they hadn't already done just that. Sanji was none to happy about Luffy spending all day with Nami, he couldn't give any reasons though since she wasn't exactly awake to notice, but that didn't stop him. Everyone else was on edge, no one knew if they were going to be attacked again.

There were a few who were actually hoping to be attacked, there was still payback to be handed out.

Luffy lit the lantern in the room and sat in the same chair he had been sitting in for the last three days and stared down at his crewmate and girlfriend. _'Why won't you wake up? Nami, please open your eyes, I miss you.'_

Nami had been changed into a clean long white button up shirt to allow Chopper to easily change the bandages on her back and her old ruined clothes had been thrown away as quickly as possible. It had taken some time, also, for the crew to clean up the deck. No one wanted that reminder around but they were reluctant to go near the spot that was still stained red with their nakama's blood.

Gently brushing some stray strands of orange hair away from her face, Luffy frowned softly at seeing the rough scrapes and bruises at the corners of her mouth. The marks that were made from the rope forced into her mouth as a gag didn't look as raw as they had before, the same as her wrists, they looked better than a few days ago. But, as Chopper said, her back was the worst off. Luffy hadn't seen those wounds since Chopper always shooed him out before tending the injuries there.

Reaching over Luffy slid his hand under the blanket Nami was covered with, finding her own bandaged hand and grasping it tightly. "Wake up Nami, please, wake up." Luffy squeezed her hand almost pleadingly. He didn't really expect an answer, he had been asking for this one thing constantly everyday since it happened, with no answer.

XxXxX

It was the pain that woke Nami up. It felt like all there was had been pain. Everything hurt, breathing, thinking- everything. The navigator immediately knew this couldn't be the afterlife, there's no way there could be such pain in paradise. Maybe the other place but it didn't feel like Hell either. Clouded brown eyes fluttered open and gazed blankly at a familiar wooden wall. _'What happened? Where am I?'_

The first thing Nami realized was that she was on her stomach, which was weird because she usually slept on her back. Her next observation came a split second later when she tried to move and immediately found out that moving was a very bad idea. It took all her will not to cry out but she couldn't remember why that was so important. So she lay very still breathing in-out-in-out, she couldn't do much else, as the haze slowly cleared from her vision. _'The infirmary, I'm in the infirmary, but wh-?'_ Suddenly it all came back, ushered in by the excruciating pain spreading over her back and wiping out every other sensation. Those guys looking for Luffy. Her being tied to the tree. The beating she had endured. _'Oh, right, crap it really hurts. Next time Zoro can keep his lazy ass on the ship.'_

Nami clenched her eyes shut and an involuntary shiver shot across her body causing pain to numb her senses again. Suddenly the navigator felt something squeeze her hand firmly though not enough to cause any extra pain. Moving her eyes, which were the only things it didn't hurt to move, around the room she finally landed on Luffy sitting next to the bed. He had his eyes closed but Nami could tell he wasn't asleep. He was leaned forward, one arm resting on his knee. the other arm hidden by the blanket where his hand was holding hers. Gathering up her strength she managed to force herself to speak.

"Lu…Luf…Luffy?"

At the sound of a weak voice Luffy gasped and his eyes widened. Seeing her beautiful brown eyes open and looking at him again, he wanted to jump and shout and laugh and cry, all at the same time. He didn't though. He could only stare back in shocked silence. Slowly his mind seemed to finally register that Nami was finally- finally- awake.

"Nami?"

"H…hey Luffy." She winced at how raspy and quiet her voice was, her throat burned with every syllable, but she smiled in spite of the pain. Somehow Nami knew her captain wouldn't be far off.

Luffy continued to stare in disbelief for at least a full half minute before trying to come up with anything to respond with. "Nami… you're awake? You're awake. Hah, you're awake!" Suddenly Luffy burst into relieved laughter and was instantly out of his chair kneeling next to the bed, as close as he could be without actually climbing into bed with her. He had a feeling Chopper wouldn't approve of that.

Despite the pain it brought, Nami couldn't help the light chuckle that followed Luffy's loud laugh, it was hard not to join in. Soon she had to stop however. The pain of it was to much, a small smile still tugged on her lips though.

"You really scared me. I was so worried about you." The raven haired young man spoke softly as he pressed his forehead against hers. Luffy stared into Nami's deep brown eyes trying to convey all the fears and worry he had felt over the last few days. Also, the feelings of relief and joy now that she was awake again.

"You w…worry too much, Luffy. It…It'll take more than this to get rid of me." Nami said, her pained smile spreading across her face. "But, thanks for being the best boyfriend." She was using Luffy's own words that he had spoken just a few days prior. He smiled and tightened the grip he had on her hand. He was so close to her now and she knew just how close her life had come to ending. Wanting reassurance that this was indeed real, Nami tugged gently on Luffy's hand, and the captain somehow knew what she needed. Maybe because he needed the same thing.

Slowly Luffy closed the small distance and gently placed his lips over hers. They were rough from her injuries but it was still the most incredible feeling he had felt in the last few days.

Nami wanted so much to take the rubber boy in her arms again but when she tried to move any significant amount it caused serious pain throughout her body. As it was she couldn't even move her hand upwards to touch his face like she wanted to. It was rather frustrating… and tiring.

He pulled away to look down into his navigator's half-lidded eyes, it looked like she was getting tired already. Suddenly Luffy remembered Chopper's instructions from before. '_Come get me right away if anything happens.'_ "Ah, that's right. I was supposed to get Chopper if you woke up." Luffy jumped up but before he ran out the door, he stopped, bending down to give the injured girl one last kiss and running his fingers softly through her orange hair.

Nami sighed happily into the kiss, her body waging a war between pleasure and pain. When Luffy pulled away again she didn't have the energy to keep her head up any longer and it sunk deeper into the soft pillow. Her small smile returned as she heard Luffy run out the door excitedly.

"Chopper! Chopper!" The rubber captain happily yelled as he ran out on deck.

=0=0=0=

And they all live happily ever after…

Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't leave it at that. The Strawhat crew still has to get Tison for what he did.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, I'm a bit late with posting. I said it would be on the weekend and I had fully intended it to be. I really was gonna post on Sunday. I actually should have foreseen this complication but Sunday was spent gearing up for Wrestlemania 27 and watching it with my boyfriend for the first time. I'm so not gonna go into it here though. How much it sucked, and how Jerry "The King" Lawler was screwed, and definitely not how Michael Cole is a giant cry-baby (among other less nice things).

Sorry. I get so caught up in this stuff, lets move on. Chapter 4 is finally here, this will be the last chapter in my little partnership, then it's back to just myself. Last thing- Don't forget to review people.

Disclaimer: OP Doesn't belong to me it is hereby the property of Oda until he deems it in my best interest to hand it over to me

**The Attack  
****Ch 4**

A soft sound was what woke Nami up again. She gasped in pain as she jerked awake. Brown eyes opened slightly to confirm that she was still in the infirmary and there was early afternoon sunlight streaming in through the small window. There was less pain involved in waking up this time but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt like hell. After some slight experimenting with movement Nami found she still couldn't move much and was still on her stomach. Roaming her eyes around the room she wasn't surprised to see Chopper sitting at his desk, he seemed to be mixing up something, but Robin sitting in the chair that Luffy once occupied was unexpected.

"Hello, Nami-chan, I'm glad to see you're awake again." The blue eyed archeologist said with a smile.

Nami looked up at Robin and offered a weak grin. "Hey, Robin, glad to see you too." Her eyes were drawn to the straw hat laying next to the bed. "But where's-"

Robin chuckled as she noticed where the navigator's eyes landed. "Luffy and the other's went into town to take care of some business. He left Chopper and myself here to look after you." She answered Nami's unfinished question and it wasn't exactly a lie.

Chopper looked up from his work and hopped down from his chair when he heard Robin say something to Nami. He hadn't been able to question her earlier because she had already fallen back asleep by the time Luffy had dragged him to the infirmary. He had really given the captain a good scolding when he found out Luffy hadn't followed his directions and come gotten him when Nami had first woken. "Nami, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Is the medication working?"

The orange haired navigator smiled gently at the doctor's worried questions and followed him with her eyes as best she could. "I'm doing better, Chopper, nothing hurts any worse than it did before anyway. The medicine helps a lot." Nami turned back to Robin and frowned. "This business wouldn't have anything to do with a certain pirate crew would it?"

The young reindeer ignored the conversation going on above his head, he was more concerned with Nami's health than what the women had to say. He was happy enough with the navigator's answer and made some notes on his clipboard. "That's good." He said, not looking up. "It also looks like your temperature is back to normal again. Your hands are healing nicely too but…"

His pause is what caught Nami's attention and she turned back to the young doctor instead of the archeologist. Chopper wasn't usually hesitant concerning anything medical. "…But what, Chopper?"

"Your back. I was able to fix the more shallow wounds so most of them won't scar but some of them were too deep for me to heal fully. I'm sorry Nami." The little doctor told her with remorse in his eyes.

"It's fine Chopper," she smiled again when the young doctor looked up at her, "I knew this was going to happen when I refused to give Luffy up to that guy." Nami looked with half-lidded eyes at the little reindeer. She had realized this already, from the moment when she saw that guy's arm turn into a whip, she knew she wasn't going to get away without consequence. She was going to have to live with the results of her decision for the rest of her life. "I just wish Luffy would let me protect _him _once in a while."

Chopper looked in confusion up at the navigator but Robin seemed to know what she was talking about. That didn't surprise Nami one bit, Robin always knew. "Luffy went after them." The archeologist told the other young woman after a moment.

Nami nodded but frowned into her pillow. "I know. Leave it up to Luffy to clean up my messes. Even if I don't want him to. Why does he always have to be like that?"

Smiling slightly, Robin gave a shrug. "If he didn't, he wouldn't be the captain we all look up to, or the man you love." Nami groaned but wasn't surprised Robin knew about her relationship with Luffy. Honestly she wondered if Luffy wanting this to remain a secret was even worth the trouble to keep. Chopper stared open mouthed at the news of captain and navigator being together.

Despite the feeling of total uselessness Nami knew the ebony haired historian was right. It just felt like everything that happened was for nothing, Luffy had run off to face that captain anyway, and it was all for her sake. _'I guess my so called resistance didn't amount to much. Here I am, usually the one with the plans, and I got pulled into something I couldn't even get myself out of. Once more it was Luffy to the rescue.'_ Nami sighed and buried her head in the pillow suddenly not in a very talkative mood.

All of a sudden from the direction of the island, some ways inland by the sounds of it, there came a huge explosion. It was clearly heard even at the docks where the Sunny was located. Robin, Chopper, and Nami all looked up at each other and after a moment they went back to what they were doing. It sounded like the guys were finished with their business.

XxXxX

It was getting kinda rowdy in the Whiplash pirates island base. Most of the crew were dead on drunk, the rest were on the way there. Captain Tison, Kuza, and the two Lisha twins were all celebrated as heroes of the crew. Risking their own lives and invading the 300 million belli Strawhat Luffy's very own ship, also taking down one of their members, all to teach those brats a lesson. For the last four days they had been celebrating their success, without a sound of retribution from the Strawhat crew.

"I wonder if that woman's dead?" Kuza asked as he and the captain sat around a table with a few other crew members. "You really didn't hold back, Cap. I'm surprised Strawhat hasn't made any fuss about it already."

Tison laughed, sloshing beer out of his mug as he did so. "What're on about Kuza? We didn't even take out anyone important, it was only one woman. 'Sides, I don' think she was dead when we left." He laughed again and almost fell out of his chair.

"Yeah, maybe your right, Cap." Kuza looked into his still half-full mug. The blond man was one of the only members to not go overboard with their celebrating. The others were taking their turn at the guard posts. Speaking of which, suddenly from outside there came an ungodly scream, and after a minute a body was thrown through the front doors… literally. One of the guards landed on the ground in the middle of the hall, rolled a few feet, and left behind a life-sized hole in the huge double doors. Silence fell immediately among the rowdy and drunk pirates.

The men stared at the door in astonishment but they didn't have to wait long to see who was on the other side. With a resounding and echoing crash what remained of the entryway was demolished. In the gaping hole left in the wall stood six people. In the forefront and still in the stance he took to punch through the door was a raven haired young man wearing a red vest. Two men stood just behind him. The first, a green haired man with three swords strapped to his waist. The other, with a lit cigarette placed on his lips. Just behind them was a large man with blue hair and dark sunglasses, what looked to be a living skeleton, and a trembling long-nosed man in overalls.

"WHERE IS HE? COME OUT AND FIGHT, BASTARD!" Luffy bellowed at the top of his lungs into the otherwise silent hall. Zoro, Sanji, Franky, Brook, and Ussop stepped forward to stand beside Luffy. They were more than ready to pay these guys back.

Luffy's black eyes scanned the room. He was searching for that familiar face of the captain guy he met before. Rage burned in his eyes like none of his nakama had seen before. Not even those that had been around with Arlong had seen Luffy go after a guy like this.

Suddenly the room broke into chaos, the Whiplash pirates jumped into action, and some actually remembered to grab their weapons. The Strawhat crew barely batted an eye as they took out the lower level grunts. They didn't have any trouble taking out any members of the higher rank either. Luffy ignored everything, he was only concerned with one man, a man he saw sneaking away out of a back door on the far side of the room. Leaving his crew behind to take care of things the young Strawhat captain dashed after his target.

Zoro watched Luffy's back as he bulled through the angry, half-drunk mob of pirates. As Luffy disappeared into the crowd the first-mate's attention was drawn back to the situation at hand. Mainly he had found his former opponent from the other day and the older blonde swordsman seemed to want a round two. Zoro grinned cruelly and locked blades with the Whiplash first mate.

Sanji used his deadly red-leg techniques on any poor soul that stumbled into his range. He was indiscriminate against his opponents, whether they were drunk or not, he didn't care. With a flurry of kicks that no normal person could track the cook blew away a large number of the enemy and still he kept going, his anger fueling him. The next move, however, was stopped by two men who stood in his path. Two dark haired twins stepped out in front of him. Each one wore a matching cocky grin.

While the first mate and the two strong twins were occupied the others were being decimated by a certain cyborg, skeleton, and sniper. Franky was taking out any and all pirates he could get his oversized hands on. Those brave enough to face Brook were sliced up by the sharp end of the afro skeleton's cane sword. Ussop hung back from the main fighting, but not because of fear, he used his Kabuto to pick off anyone who tried to escape out the doors.

Captain Tison stood calmly in one of the rooms on the second floor, he had been cornered, in his own base no less. He knew he was going to die, the older man could see it in the eyes of the black haired young man across the room from him. Amazingly Tison didn't regret losing his life to this man, facing down one of the strongest rookies to come into the Grand Line since Roger, it wasn't such a bad death.

"Come on then, Monkey D. Luffy, what're you waiting for. I'm not gonna beg, I'm not gonna 'pologize either, if that's what you want from me." Tison scowled at the still silent young captain. The fire in those black eyes only seemed to grow as Luffy continued to stare down the older pirate.

He took a step forward. "You hurt my nakama."  
_She was bound around the tree, blood coating her back, her clothing in ruins. The rain wasn't even enough to wash away all the dark red liquid. _

Step forward once more. "You hurt my navigator."  
_The way Nami's body hung limply in Franky's arms as he carried her to the infirmary. Not even Chopper confident in his ability to save her._

One last heavy step. "You hurt my girl."  
_Nami suffering through a high fever as he wiped the sweat from her brow. Keeping watch over her at night so she knew she wasn't alone._

Luffy was right on him. The rubber captain reached up and closed his fingers around Tison's neck, he squeezed, hard. The old pirate didn't even struggle, he was at least smart enough to know that it was in vain now. Luffy's grip tightened with each second and he could feel the breath hitch in the man's throat as the air was cut off. Slowly he felt the pulse decrease till it stopped altogether and the large man went limp in Luffy's hands. The Strawhat captain let the body fall from his fingers uncaringly and he stepped back.

It was done.

The crew was just finishing off the lackeys when Luffy walked back into the main room. Zoro looked up from his spot standing over the blond swordsman, he had a nice sized cut on his arm, but nothing too serious. The man at his feet was dead. The captain looked the others over as well and they all looked just fine, even happy to have taken revenge for Nami.

"We're finished here. Let's go back." Luffy told them quietly. However, Ussop's voice stopped him from turning around.

The sharpshooter looked nervous as he asked but he had to know. "Luffy, what happened to that captain you were going after? I mean, did you get him?"

Luffy looked over his shoulder with his hair shading his eyes from sight. "It's over, Ussop." He faced forward again and continued walking out of the pirate base.

The sniper would surely have continued this line of questioning had Zoro not come up behind him and laid a silent but commanding hand on his shoulder. In so few words- "shut up." Listening to the silent order Ussop let the matter drop, it wasn't really that important anyway.

As they left the pirate base Luffy only paused long enough to watch the fuse light up and the tiny flame race its way inside the base where Franky had placed several special explosives. The resulting boom was all the captain needed to hear as the shockwave blew his hair around his face wildly.

XxXxX

It was now after lunch and the rays of late afternoon sun were still able to slip into the room. Nami watched a patch of light on the floor disappear as a cloud covered the sun outside and slowly reappear again. Nami groaned in aggravation, this was a nightmare. She was starting to hate the walls of the infirmary and it hadn't even been a complete day since she had woken up. Outside she heard the crew running about getting ready to set sail. Robin would be acting as navigator until Nami, herself, could resume her duties. She hated not being active, probably not as much as Luffy, but still it was so frustrating being unable to move.

She heard Luffy's voice from somewhere nearby but couldn't make out what he was saying. A frown slipped onto her face at the thought of the rubber pirate. Nami almost expected a visit from her boyfriend as soon as he got back with the way Robin told her of how diligently Luffy watched over her while she was unconscious. But, there had been no sign of him since the others had gotten back earlier.

"This is ridiculous." The orange haired woman complained to the empty room. She felt Sunny shift as he set out into the first waves of the open ocean after their four day stay at this island. An island she would sooner forget.

With a slow, deliberate, movement Nami moved her hands under her and pushed upwards. It sounds simple, doesn't it, lifting yourself off the bed? For the Strawhat navigator it was far from it. At the first real move in days pain seared across Nami's back as her wounds were stretched under the bandages. "Kyaa!" The scream erupted before she could stop it and her arms nearly buckled at the strain. She pushed through, however, and shifted most of the weight to her legs once she pulled them upward into a kneeling position. By the time Nami was on her hands and knees she was out of breath and panting from the effort her shaking limbs put forth to hold herself up. _'Maybe Chopper had a point, saying I wasn't ready to move yet. Dammit!' _

Nami ground her teeth against another painful yelp as she slowly slid her feet to the ground and stood beside the medical bed. The young orange haired woman wavered slightly but grinned as she accomplished this small feat by herself. "Yes, now if I can just make it to the door." She muttered. A small step at a time Nami limped toward the infirmary door but on second thought she paused at the bedside table and picked up the lonely looking straw hat that Luffy had left behind for her. She glanced over the worn out hat, the many scars it had obtained through its own adventures, some she specifically remembered patching up. Others had come before she had shown up to repair it, and if she guessed right, even before Luffy had shown up. She fingered the frayed brim momentarily before placing the treasure securely on her head and once more heading for the freedom outside Chopper's infirmary.

Luffy was sitting alone on top of the figurehead watching the waves break against the bow of the ship. He refused to look back at the island and watch it disappear on the horizon like he had with so many others. The log pose had set and he had taken care of those guys that hurt Nami so after returning from the pirate base the crew had started out again. It was better that they be long gone when the marines showed up to arrest those other pirates after the townspeople figured out they weren't a threat anymore.

"You know, Luffy, I suspect that Nami-chan is waiting for you to come see her again." Robin said coming up behind him. "She was still awake when you arrived back on the ship."

The raven haired captain looked over his shoulder at the older woman. He knew she was right. "I'm the captain, Robin, it's my job to protect my crew. I failed her." Luffy looked down back to the water, his eyes showing regret. "What is she gonna say when she realizes it's all my fault."

Robin shook her head at the young man's back. "You know she doesn't blame you Luffy." He didn't respond to her. "You'll have to face her sooner or later, captain, she won't stay in the infirmary forever."

"Nami?" Suddenly Chopper's surprised voice was heard from where the young doctor was mixing some medicines on the lawn deck. "What are you doing up? You have to lay back down, walking around isn't good for your wounds, Nami." Luffy looked surprised over toward where he could see Chopper jump up and run over to the injured navigator who was at this point making her way slowly and carefully down the stairs from the upper deck. She was wearing his hat but even that didn't lift his spirits as it normally would.

'_Well that was sooner than expected.'_ The archeologist thought with a soft smile. Robin shifted her gaze between Nami, who was now being berated by Chopper, and Luffy. Who she could tell was still feeling reluctant to face his crewmate.

Luffy followed Nami's progress with his eyes, still staying seated on the figurehead, with a soft frown making it's way onto his face. After a minute he felt something tugging on the bottom of his vest. Looking down he saw one of Robin's hands pointing toward Nami's direction and then it tried to shoo him off Sunny's head. He glanced around for the dark haired historian but she was nowhere in sight now. Frowning stubbornly Luffy refused to move until two of Robin's hands actually snuck up behind him and pushed him off the seat. The captain glared up at the pink flower petals as the extra arms disappeared.

"Chopper, I promise I'll go back to the infirmary in a little bit, okay? I have something to do first." Nami promised the worried little doctor. He was standing in front of her and wouldn't let her take another step across deck, which was where she wanted to go, even though she had already made it down the stairs without a problem.

The little reindeer shook his head determinedly and didn't move. "No way Nami. Whatever it is can't be as important as your health. Let Robin handle it for now, you need rest."

The navigator was actually shocked at the unwavering tone of Chopper's command. Normally he wouldn't dare try to order any one of the crew around like this, especially her, for the obvious fearful reasons. Nami sighed and looked up towards the figurehead where Luffy was standing. Her eyes locked with his from across the ship. Heart nearly stopping at his dark stare Nami didn't notice Chopper give her a strange look and then turn around to give the same glance to Luffy. Suddenly an arm sprouting from his pink hat caught both their attention. Robin's extra appendage tapped Chopper on the shoulder and pointed upstairs. It was obviously telling him to follow its direction and leave the navigator alone. The younger pirate finally sighed in a resigned way and muttered under his breath as he passed her to do as the hand motioned. "I'll be waiting in the infirmary when you're done."

'_Thanks for that Robin.'_ Nami thought gratefully as she watched Chopper disappear around the corner on the upper deck. Unconsciously, as her eyes lowered, they drifted to one certain corner of the deck. She shivered in a coldness that wasn't there as her eyes landed on the tree where the swing once hung. The crew had tried to remove any traces of what had happened there, she could tell, but still the cuts from where Zoro sliced through her binds could be seen easily in the tree bark. The swing hadn't been returned to its rightful place either, leaving the tree fairly sad looking, it didn't matter how much they tried to hide it though. In her mind she could still see everything as if it had just taken place an hour ago.

"So, you all better now, Nami?" Luffy asked coming up behind the navigator and unintentionally startling the orange haired girl out of her thoughts.

She wasn't able to hide the glimmer of pain that flashed across her face as her back twisted around in surprise. "Dammit, Luffy, don't sneak up on me like that." Nami ground out as she straightened herself again.

The captain looked away more at the pain in his girlfriend's eyes than at the annoyed reprimand she gave him. "Sorry. So, you're not okay?" His wide dark eyes gazing through his bangs in concerned curiosity.

"Luffy, the only one that would be okay after so short a time with injuries like these would be you." Nami scoffed but then amended her statement after some thought, "maybe Zoro too. Honestly I don't know how you two do it, but I figured if you wouldn't come see me, I'd have to come to you." She grinned wryly at the black haired boy hoping to get a smile or laugh out of him.

"I'm sorry Nami." His unnaturally somber tone wiped away any trace of a smile from the navigator's face and she sighed. Luffy's fists clenched at his sides as he finally managed to look up at her. "I failed you. I failed as your captain and your boyfriend. I should have been here to protect you from that guy."

Nami growled under her breath before she clenched her eyes shut and shaking her head. "If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to be able to rely on me once in a while but I wasn't strong enough. I thought if I didn't give you up to those pirates that they would just drop it. A stupid idea but I guess it made sense at the time. For once I wanted to be the one to help you and that you wouldn't have to save me again." Nami couldn't look at Luffy as tears started to gather at the edges of her brown eyes and she helplessly tried to stop them.

Luffy didn't know what to do. Whenever Nami had cried before he had just beat up whoever had been the cause but… what was he supposed to do when he was the cause? So like in every other situation where he didn't know what was going on, and there were a lot of them, the captain followed his instincts. Stepping forward he gently wrapped his arms around Nami's waist, being extremely careful of her injuries, and laid his chin on the top of her head as she leaned into his chest.

"Instead of me protecting you, I just wound up the helpless damsel, and you had to take revenge for me. How pathetic is that?" Nami muttered into the red fabric of Luffy's vest. Tears started flowing down her cheeks but it wasn't from the soft contact Luffy made on her back.

Luffy pulled away and lifted her chin up to look directly into her eyes. "You're not pathetic, Nami, and you're not weak either. You know, you're pretty dumb for a smart person." He ignored the look Nami sent him at that remark but hurried to continue what he was saying. "I only trust my treasure to people strong enough to protect it. If you were that weak I'd never let you keep my hat. Besides, the crew of the future King of the Pirates isn't weak, his navigator included. She's very special to him."

Nami wiped away the last of her tears and smiled softly at Luffy as he reached up to finger the brim of his hat fondly and the other rested gently on her cheek. "The future Pirate King is special to his navigator too." Nami said quietly as she placed her own hand over the one of his that was against her face.

"And, Nami," Luffy suddenly began with a grin, "I…" _grumble_ "I…" _grumble_ "uh…"

The navigator just shook her head. Leave it to Luffy's stomach to make it's demands now and ruining the moment. She stepped away from the boy and he frowned in a disappointed pout. "Luffy did you even eat lunch today?" She asked and almost laughed as he cringed away with a shake of his head, probably expecting to be hit. "No wonder it's so loud. Well, you better go get Sanji to make you something before your stomach decides to eat itself." Nami shrugged but was surprised to find that Luffy wasn't immediately gone at the mention of food.

Instead of dashing for the galley and the cook, who Luffy was sure wasn't doing anything of importance now, the young captain leaned in and captured Nami's lips by surprise. Her mouth was left open in shock at the boy's bold move and he wasn't done yet. Luffy slipped his tongue through her lips and gave the orange haired girl a deep, passionate, kiss. One to make up for all the kisses he missed out on while she had been asleep in the infirmary. Nami quickly got over her astonishment and returned the kiss with an equal fervor. She didn't even register it when Luffy bent her back slightly with his enthusiasm.

Luffy pulled back at last and left Nami panting for breath and he was also. "I love you, Nami." He rushed on to say before his body could remind him yet again of its current problems.

"I-"

"You rubbery piece of shit!" Sanji's outraged yell tore out of the kitchen seconds before the galley door was blown off its hinges. The blonde cook stood steaming in the middle of the rest of the crew, who looked like they had fallen to the ground when the door was no longer there to support them, in other words leaning against the door to spy.

Instantly a number of extra hands sprouted all down Sanji's sides, arms and legs, then the poor chef was put into a full body bind that Houdini would have trouble escaping from. A hand appeared to cover his mouth as well. Robin winked at the two from her spot as the only crewmember who didn't fall over.

At the same time a number of apologies mixed in with weak excuses were being muttered from the others. "Yo, Nami-sis and Strawhat-bro, sorry 'bout that. Don't mind us." Franky waved as he leaned forward, grabbed the broken galley door, and set it back into place in the wall.

Nami stood in stunned silence, staring at the door she knew her nakama were still hiding behind. '_Guess the cat's out of the bag now.'_ She lowered her head into her hands in exasperation and chuckled disbelievingly to herself. Hearing Luffy's laughter in her ear Nami looked back up, seeing him smile happily, she matched it with one of own. "Luffy, I love you too."

=0=0=0=

Alright, that's it, the end. So on and so on. If you don't review for me at least review for my friend, she keeps bugging me about it, and honestly it's driving me up the wall. XP


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